


Song of the Sirens

by MoonRainbow_327



Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:27:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29155032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonRainbow_327/pseuds/MoonRainbow_327
Summary: Beware the song of the Watchers. They'll call for you, and each note is more enticing than the last. They'll twist reality for you, promise you all your hopes and dreams, everything you've ever wanted.But beware, for everything is not always as it seems.And when a stray Hermit gets called to join the ethereal beings, it's up to an ex-Watcher to try and save the land he calls home. But will the song of the sirens be too much for him to resist? And will an unexpected reminder of his past change everything?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	1. Come Sing Our Song

_Come, close your eyes, and let everything go  
And listen to our little song_

_Come, listen here, and we'll tell you a tale  
And you'll be just where you belong_

_A tale of people  
A tale of woe  
A tale of children  
With nowhere to go_

_A tale of people  
with silent whispers  
A tale of kids  
Just playing along_

_Come, close your eyes, and let everything go  
And we'll help you find your voice  
Come, listen here, and we'll tell you a tale  
Trust us, you're making the right choice_

_A tale of people  
Who made their own way  
A tale of children  
Who lit up the day_

_A tale of people  
With hushed quiet songs  
A tale of kids  
Just playing along_

_Hush, now, don't be afraid  
Everything comes to an end  
But join us, and just maybe  
We'll help you as a friend_

_All that you want  
All that you need  
All your desires  
All of your greed_

_  
All that you wish for  
We guarantee  
Will come true  
If you play along_

_If you sing our song_


	2. I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bunch of stuff happens

"Grian!" 

Mumbo glared out of the end tower at his friend, who was hanging over the void with the dumbest expression on his face. "If you die-" Mumbo threatened. Of course, this was all in good jest, but did Grian really have to flaunt his new fancy elytra like that? The redstoner stood there for a second before he felt a hard _whack_ in the small of his back. And now he was levitating. That was the work of a shulker, no doubt, though Mumbo had thought he cleared the tower of them when he first went up. Had he really missed one of them?

Maneuvering so that he wouldn't fall very far once the effect wore down, Mumbo glanced around to find the pest. Unfortunately, the splotches of purples and pinks and even more purples and even more pinks made finding the creature more difficult than he'd like. "It's in the building," Grian called from behind him. Mumbo heard the _woosh_ of some rockets as Grian flew back towards Mumbo, landing below the hermit. He pointed to where a rather large, blocky shape was hiding in its shell. "Right inside."

"Great," Mumbo muttered as the levitation wore off and he crashed awkwardly to the purple brick ground. He stood up and brushed off his pants. "Could you kill it?" He didn't really want to have to go back in there, as it was always a pain to traverse without an elytra.

Not contemplating for even a second, Grian flew off towards another building to raid. "Nah, you've got this," he, very helpfully, called back to Mumbo as he left. Very helpful, Grian. Thank you so much. 

Grian _was_ right, though; Mumbo made quick work of the monster, but not before taking a few more hits of his own first. Ouch. Pulling out a golden apple from his pocket, the brit relished the rejuvenating warmth that went through his body as bruises and cuts disappeared. If someone had given him a hand, maybe he wouldn't need this, but oh well. Climbing up the tower, Mumbo emerged onto a bridge. Hearing a familiar _swish_ from above him, the brit looked up at the voidish sky to see a red bird flying far above Mumbo, seemingly without a care in the world. 

Oh, wait, that wasn't a bird, that was Grian. His mistake. 

"Hey, Grian," Mumbo called up. "Care to join me back down here?" But Grian didn't seem to hear him, or he just didn't care, and he didn't respond. So much for that. Mumbo rolled his eyes. He'd get an elytra of his own soon enough. And speaking of, the brit noticed in the distance what seemed to be a floating ship made of the purpur material that everything else in the End was made of. He grinned. That looked perfect. 

Carefully making his way across the buildings, setting up bridges and the like so he didn't go tumbling to his doom, Mumbo was soon standing mere feet from the bow of the ship. It was... quite the jump, now that he looked at it. And it was also quite the fall. Maybe he should make a little bridge to get to it instead. Yes, that would be wise.

Mumbo reached into his pockets to find some wood, some cobble, some purpur, anything he could use to bridge across. And it seemed like he was out. The brit had priorly thrown all of his tools into an ender chest, so that was out of the question as well. All he had that could be of any use was a bucket of water. Well, that's a bit of a predicament, but at least he had a last resort in case things went south.

Glancing back up, Mumbo contemplated calling for his friend again, but he was nowhere to be seen in the sky. Grian must've gone to check the other buildings. That's convenient, now he had no choice but to jump.

And it wasn't like he wouldn't make it, no, Mumbo had almost certainly made at least a few jumps like this in the past. Right? Yeah, he was sure of it. The brit just had to focus, prepare his bucket just in case, and make sure he landed. Then he'd have an elytra, and all of his worries about dying from falling would become obsolete. 

Okay, here it goes. Focus, pre- 

Wait, this was not the time for that! As if by some horrid coincidence, a tune, a collection of notes decided it was that moment that they wanted to invade Mumbo's mind. And this wasn't the first time this had happened. Every night, Mumbo's dreams were taken over by this song. It droned on and on, and Mumbo could never place it, no matter how familiar it sounded. Something about it made Mumbo uneasy every time he heard it. 

But this time, uneasy was an understatement. Mumbo had already pushed himself off the ground. It was too late to stop and regain his focus. But he fumbled. The hermit tripped and he hadn't focus properly. He wouldn't make it. Or would he? Throwing out his arms, Mumbo latched onto the ship, clutching a few prominent bricks. But they weren't good holds. Mumbo scrambled to get a better hold, moving his hands desperately, but to no avail.

Mumbo lost his handle and went plummeting down, down, down. But the song that had wormed its way into his head wouldn't stop. No, it seemed to get louder and louder as he neared the ground. Oh, no. He was going to die. The hermit was too shocked to yell out, and fell in silence, his eyes wide. 

Wait, his bucket! Mumbo shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. Fumbling, he pulled out his bucket. Just as he neared the floor, Mumbo spilled out the water and landed safely on the ground. He hadn't landed on his feet, and sat up, rubbing his back. His breathing was heavy and frantic, and his heart beat louder and faster than it had in months. He stared back up at where he had fallen from with still-wide eyes. The ship and the building were unmoved as if nothing had just occurred there. It was mocking, almost as mocking as the wretched tune that still playing on a loop in his mind. 

" _Mumbo!_ " Looking over, the disconcerted hermit saw an anxious Grian swoop in, landing next to Mumbo. "Oh gosh, are you alright?" Mumbo nodded, shakily standing up and scooping the water back up. "What happened?"

Mumbo shook his head. "I honestly- I don't know. I was trying to get to the ship, and this-" His voice fizzled out as Mumbo realized how stupid this would sound. "It- well it sounds kinda dumb..."

The red-sweatered hermit shook his head. "Go on, I won't laugh." His voice was series and his eyes were filled with concern. 

"You see, G, there's this-" He chuckled in embarrassment, looking away. "There's this song, kinda, that's just been bothering me lately. And, well, I got a bit distracted." He glanced back at Grian, expecting to see the hermit laughing at him, or the very least holding back a smirk. But instead, his friend's face was pale and his eyes were wide as ender pearls. He was seemingly frozen in place, and it didn't even look like he was breathing. "Grian?" Mumbo was concerned now. Had he said something wrong?

"Mumbo," Grian began. His voice was coarse, and he sounded out of breath. Okay, now Mumbo was thoroughly concerned. "Tell me, does the music sound like this?" The hermit closed his eyes and began to hum softly. Mumbo stifled a gasp. For that was exactly the tune he had been hearing in his mind for the last few days straight. Grian opened his eyes to see Mumbo's face a mixture of confusion and definitely more concern. 

"Yeah," Mumbo answered. "That's- yeah, that's it." He felt like something was at the edge of his memory, trying to burst out. What was it? It was like a name you just couldn't remember, that thing on your to-do list you didn't write down. It was something important, but Mumbo couldn't remember for the life of him what it was. 

Grian stood up. Without a word, he took off into the sky and landed on the ship. He ducked inside, much to Mumbo's confusion. "Grian? Wh-" The hermit emerged holding another elytra, flying back down and handing it to Mumbo.

"We're going back," he said seriously. It was a 'this is final, I'm not arguing', monotonous voice. It stunned Mumbo that Grian would ever speak like that. The mood from before, the playful rivalries and annoyance, the racing to find goodies, the competition, it was all gone. Replacing it was a stiff tension, one that made Mumbo uncomfortable. 

"Oh-kay..." He said slowly, strapping his new wings on and pulling out some previously acquired rockets. "If you say so."

"I do." And the two took off into the air, navigating back to the portal to bring them back home. After about six wrong turns, the two finally made it. Keeping their heads down to avoid alerting any endermen, the two stood at the base of the portal. Mumbo could've sworn Grian glanced at him nervously before leaping into the portal, but he couldn't be sure.

And Mumbo followed him in.

-(+)-

_Well, this didn't seem like Hermitcraft._

_Mumbo glanced around at his surroundings. It seemed like he was in a place resembling the End's color scheme, but if all the colors were shifted and washed in a dark blue. And instead of an endless void at the edge of the islands, there was an ocean of a dark liquid, almost devoid of any color at all. He debated touching it, but something told him that sticking his hand in the mystery substance was generally a bad idea._ _Where_ was _he? He could tell this wasn't a dream. He wasn't entirely sure how he knew this, but he knew it somehow. It just didn't have the same mystical feel as a dream did._

_The hermit glanced around. Large houses dotted the island, the same color as purpur. Large indigo trees grew, their leaves pitch black. There were no shadows, there was no visible light source, but there was no darkness either. The place seemed quiet, though everything around him teemed with life. He seemed to be standing in grass, if grass was blue-grey and soft. Small flowers were present, though each navy blue bud was dotted with thorns._

_And there seemed to be nobody there. But as Mumbo wandered closer to the houses, he could see figures standing in them, all different sizes. And they didn't all seem human, either. Some were very tall and towered over others, some seemed the size of children-- and maybe they were children, Mumbo couldn't tell-- some seemed to be barely humanoid at all. Mumbo was baffled at this place. Why wasn't he home? Was Grian here as well? Had anyone else been here?_

_As he walked, people began to stare at the person who was obviously not supposed to be here. Mumbo felt a rush of awkwardness. As he neared the end of the line of houses, he saw that there was a circular part in the center. In the middle was, what do you know, a portal resembling almost perfectly that of an Overworld portal._

_Immensely relieved, Mumbo rushed towards the portal. He could finally go back home! But before he could jump in, he heard a familiar tune. And this time, it wasn't in his head. It was from behind him. Mumbo turned around. "Grian?" The redstoner soon realized it was not his friend, but someone he didn't recognize at all._

_She wore a long, pearl-white gown, and was a good six inches taller than Mumbo. A silver chain hung around her neck, and on it was a pendant with an odd symbol, like a nether portal, except cut up. Her eyes were deep indigo and they stared right at Mumbo. And, most notably, her arms were spotted with pure white feathers. She looked oddly imposing._

_"Who_ are _you," Mumbo asked warily._

_The other finished humming the haunting song. "I'm surprised you don't recognize me, Jumbo."_

_Mumbo inhaled sharply. "How... do you know my name?" If he wasn't standing right at the edge of the portal, he would've backed up. He contemplated jumping right in, to get out of this place, but something told him that he should stay. And he listened. But he also prepared to bolt._

_The being laughed, but never answered his question. "I assure you, your questions will all be answered in due time. But now, I don't suppose you'd like me to tell you where you are and why?"_

_The brit faltered for a moment. He considered protesting that she tell him things now, but it would surely be of little use. So he just nodded, numbly._

_What._

_Was._

_Going._

_On._

_"Well, Jumbo," she began, her voice smooth. "Welcome to the realm of the Watchers. My name is Wisp, and we, the Watchers, have brought you back here for quite a few reasons. The most notable of which being..." She paused for a moment, walking up to Mumbo. Her dark blue eyes stared into Mumbo's dark green ones. Her calm demeanor seemed to mask something far beneath, but he couldn't place it. "We'd like you to join our ranks."_

_Mumbo blinked._

_Nope._

_Without a second thought, he walked backwards into the portal. The last thing he saw of this world was the being, watching him disappear with a slightly disappointed and possibly even surprised look on her face._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> e
> 
> not wasting any time before jumping face-first into stuff


	3. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More stuff happens

And back onto spawn island he went. Mumbo stood up, groaning. Not a pleasant experience. The brit didn't care much for the disorientation that came with going through portals, and falling backward into the portal without preparation wasn't helping him one bit. As he regained his posture, Mumbo noticed his friend pacing back and forth a few feet in front of him. He might've thought, 'Great, I can ask him about what the heck just happened,' but kept his mouth shut at the concerned and even slightly panicked look the brit's face held as he walked back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, in front of him.

After a moment, however, Grian noticed Mumbo standing awkwardly a few feet beside him and perked up instantly. The sweatered hermit walked up to him, relief flooding his face. With one hand he gripped Mumbo's arm, saying, "Oh, Mumbo, you're back. You worried me; what took you so long?" His voice might've sounded calm, but it was edged with lingering worry, and his words were quick, like water spilling out of an overflowing glass. He couldn't seem to figure out what to do with his other hand, and it wiggled slightly as his arm hung at his side.

Mumbo backed up a bit. Was Grian... okay? He seemed more than a bit frantic, and it freaked Mumbo out just a bit. Did he really need to be _more_ concerned? Grian had been acting strange since Mumbo's fall; he wondered what was wrong. After all, it wasn't all that abnormal that someone slipped up and had to make a quick save. They'd just stand up and continue on their life, maybe being a bit more careful from then on. But Grian seemed more frazzled than usual about this, and it was starting to really worry Mumbo. "I- er, maybe now isn't the best time. Let's just show our spoils an-"

But the other cut him off. "No, no, no. Mumbo, this is important. Did you get held up? What happened?" The longer Grian spoke, the more... was that annoyance that was present in his voice? Something was off. The builder was scaring him at this point. Grian's grip tightened around Mumbo's arm, and he quickly wrenched it out of his friend's hand, stepping back more and furrowing his brow. "Mumbo, you have to tell me, this is more important than you could know," Grian insisted. His mouth pressed shut in a thin line.

The person to whom he had spoken flickered in Mumbo's mind, along with the song that his head, she, and even Grian had all known. Was there something he should know? Maybe he should've stayed back in the, what was it? The realm of the Watchers. He had some questions he needed answered. What was that tune? Why did she know it, and why in the world would _Grian_ , of all people, know it? Had the two met? Had Grian visited the home of the Watchers, too? Or was it just some huge coincidence that this exact song was known by all these people? He had so many questions.

Yet a part of him was still hesitant to explain where he was all the time extra he spent away from the Overworld.

"I- Grian, calm down," he said. What was up with him? "I just got a bit caught up in... something. I'm fine." He'd ask his questions later. For now, the only thing he intended on doing was changing the subject. The redstoner pulled out a shulker box, one he had filled with goodies that he had collected in the two's round of Endbusting. He placed it on the floor, saying, "Here, look at what I collected."

But, to Mumbo's dismay, Grian refused. "Did you end up with the- Did you end up in another place?" Oh, he knew, didn't he? But how? "Please tell me."

Mumbo blinked, before sighing. "Yeah, I ended up in this weird place. This 'Realm of the Watchers.' Do you know anything about it?" He quickly countered with his own question. 

If Grian's face was pale before, he might as well have become a ghost now. "The Watchers." His voice was little more than a mumble, and it was unclear whether he was talking to Mumbo or himself. "You- You're sure you heard that right? You didn't hear it wrong or anything?" Grian clutched his own arms, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

"Yeah," Mumbo confirmed with a nod of his head. This obviously wasn't good news to the other person. "The person I spoke to said-"

" _You spoke to someone?_ " Grian shook his head. "Don't believe a word of what anyone there said. The people there are cruel and spew out nothing but lies," he hissed with narrowed eyes. He didn't explain how he knew that though, leaving Mumbo with more questions. How was Grian able to judge them? Did he know them? And how? Come to think of it, the person he had spoken to seemed a bit off, but then again, Grian was acting off now as well.

"Tell me you don't plan to try and go back there, Mumbo," Grian demanded before Mumbo could get a word out. It wasn't a question or a suggestion. No, this was an order. "Mumbo." This wasn't right. 

Mumbo crossed his arms. "Why?" His eyes slightly narrowed as he challenged the other brit. He stared down at the other, the height difference between the two becoming all that apparent at that moment. "How do you know?"

This was clearly the exact opposite of the right thing to say, and Grian stumbled over his words as he tried to dance around Mumbo's questions. "I just do, it's not important. But what _is_ important is that you don't go back there. Alright?" He was seemingly getting desperate now. Something told Mumbo that maybe listening to Grian was a bad decision. He clearly had some kind of prejudice against them, but he wouldn't say why. Why would he do that?

But he also wasn't planning too much to go back himself, being how quickly he left last time. Wisp's last words rang through his mind. _We'd like you to join our ranks._ He had left so quickly that he hadn't given himself time to even think about her offer. Not that he was planning on accepting, but... "Alright," Mumbo agreed, his voice shallow and noncommital. Luckily, Grian didn't pick up that Mumbo was just yessing him, and a bit of color returned to his face. 

"Thank you. Now," he continued, changing the subject. His tone was lighter but sounded almost fake. Mumbo didn't say anything about it, though. "What did you get from the End?"

Later that night, Mumbo returned back home. He had finished up with Grian and worked on his own projects for a bit, and by now he was tired and ready to collapse in his bed. When was the last time he did that? A few days ago? He couldn't quite remember. Whatever, that didn't matter, because he was going to sleep now. 

After putting some stuff away, he crawled into bed and lay there for just a moment, thinking about the things that had happened that day. The weird place still troubled his mind, along with Grian's oddness, and his demands to not go back. Mumbo wasn't certain what to think of it. He surely didn't wantto go back, right? The way Grian spoke of it painted it so dangerously, he couldn't possibly want to return. He turned over in his bed, the thoughts flooding his mind until he drifted off to sleep at last.

-(+)-

_And he was back here again._

_Why? Why did he end up_ back _here?_

_Mumbo glanced around to see a familiar spot. It was where he ended up last time; the center of the houses. He had awoken right in front of the portal. Perfect, he could just jump in and go home. Well, in theory. He could. Right now. He wouldn't have to stay here, he could go back to Hermitcraft and completely forget this ever happened. He'd just have to step forward a little bit, maybe a few steps. Then he'd go back to spawn island, and he wouldn't mention any of this to Grian or anyone else. He'd ignore the repeating tune in his head and he'd go about his life normally. All he had to do was jump in this portal._

_Right... about... now._

_... Now. Right now._

_Simple._

_Jump in the portal, go home._

_Bing, bang, boom._

_Easy as pie, a piece of cake, other idioms that would say how easy it would be to have his life go back to normal._

_He just had to take a step._

_..._

_But he didn't. And not because anyone stopped him. He was unaware of the form that stood silently behind him, watching, just watching, with a bemused expression. No, this was all entirely him._

_He stood there for a moment, before stepping back with a sigh._ Sorry, Grian, _he said in his mind. But was he really sorry? Or was it just something to say to make him feel better about this? He disregarded the question. Nope. He wasn't thinking about that._

_It was only then that he heard a sound from behind him. "So you wanted to come back after all." The voice was smooth and level. Mumbo turned around to see Wisp standing there with folded arms. "You wouldn't have woken up here if you hadn't." She seemed so sure of herself, so confident._

_"I- I didn't_ want _to come back." But was that the truth? It had to be. He didn't explicitly want to come back, even if he did have questions. So many questions. The other simply shrugged dismissively._

_"Well you're here now, and that's all that matters." The Watcher turned away slightly, before gesturing for Mumbo to follow. "Come, we have much to discuss." She led Mumbo down a winding path and began to speak. "I believe we may have started off on the wrong hook before."_

_Yeah, maybe._

_"As you already know, I go by the name of Wisp," the Watcher restated. Mumbo walked alongside her as the two walked. "I am a Watcherborne, which is self-explanatory. I've been a Watcher my entire life. Nothing special, most of these people here are so." She shrugged, and the two walked down into an alley._

_It wasn't exactly what one would expect when they thought of an alley. It wasn't dark and spooky and probably filled with murders. No, it was well-lit and well-kept, and probably not filled with murderers._

_Hopefully not filled with murderers._

_"I assume you have a multitude of questions, Mumbo," she continued, kicking a few boxes out of the way. "Fire away."_

_Oh, that was easy. He'd just get to ask his questions, without any hassle. But then, would he get answers to them? And more importantly, would they be the answers he was looking for? And how could he know they were the right answers? There was nothing stopping her from lying to him. His mind wandered to Grian's warning momentarily, before he dispelled it from his mind. He could make his own decisions on whether or not he could trust this Watcher person. He had no reason to mistrust her as of yet._

_"Well," he began, almost reluctantly. "The song you an- You were humming before. What is that?" He almost mentioned that Grian had known it too, but decided against it. He also neglected to mention he had been hearing it in his head for the past who-knows-how-long._

_Was that a grin? The Watcher smiled with an almost knowing look. "Ah, yes, that. That's like an anthem of sorts. Sort of like a theme song for the Watchers, if you understand. And don't worry, you are not alone in having it ring through your head, it happens to many."_

_Wait, how did she know? Had she guessed that he was hearing it, or was there something she wasn't telling him? And if it were an anthem, what was Grian doing knowing it? Was it because of the same thing that was going on to Mumbo, or something else? Was Grian one of these Watchers or something? Huh, he'd ask him later._

_And_ not alone _? Great, now he just had more_ questions. _"What do you mean by 'not alone'?"_

 _Wisp stopped just in front of a door, turning to the brit. "Your question will be answered momentarily. Follow me down here." The Watcher pressed her hand up against a panel next to the door, which sounded a nice_ click. _She twisted the knob on the door and pulled it open to reveal a long staircase going who-knows-where._

_That was a really long staircase. The stairs were made from purpur bricks, and end rods lined the tall ceiling, lighting the whole way down with a bright, almost purple glow. It didn't look nearly as ominous as a long flight of stairs in an alley going far beneath the ground should. It seemed almost inviting, like an end city hall without the shulkers._

_Wisp began to walk down the steps, turning back for a moment to gesture for Mumbo to follow. He stood for a moment before walking down the staircase himself, looking around at the pale gray walls. "What is this place?"_

_He didn't get an answer and walked down the rest of the stairs in silence. He emerged in a large room with a light end stone floor and tall, gray walls. The ceiling was lit up like the staircase, with end rods lining the edges and in a grid pattern in the middle. It was a comfy room with two dark blue couches, some chairs, and a few tables made of spruce wood. In the center was a large table with white stools surrounding it. There were people-- sitting on the couches and chatting, seated at the table, just hanging around the room. Maybe ten in total. And they weren't all human, either. But one thing was similar with all of them; they all had matching chains with the weird symbol around their necks._

_Wisp stood beside him, her face seemingly glowing, and not just from the light of the room. She turned to him and gestured towards the people. "Mumbo Jumbo, meet the Moonlight Watchers."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> e

**Author's Note:**

> So I came up with this on a whim and only have a very loose plan B) because that's just how I roll
> 
> *when a shower thought becomes an entire au*
> 
> Start Date: 2-2-2021  
> End Date: sometime in the future, I reckon
> 
> Status: In progress


End file.
